XI TOO LATE.

XII SPRINGBROOK AGAIN.




THE STORY OF JESSIE.




CHAPTER I.


A LETTER FOR SUNNYSIDE COTTAGE.

Thomas Dawson was busy in the kitchen trying to make the kettle boil,
and to get the fire clear that he might do a piece of toast. He had
already tidied up the grate and swept the floor, and as he stood by
the table with the loaf in his hand, about to cut a slice, his eye
wandered down through the dewy, sunny garden, where every tree and
bush was beginning to show a little film of green over its brown
branches.

But before he could notice anything in the garden, his attention was
attracted by the sight of Daniel Magor, the postman, standing at the
gate and fumbling with the latch. Thomas dropped the loaf and the
knife, and went out to meet him, leaving the house-door wide open to